And if you mace or batter a dog that is not actually acting you and ends up needing medical treatment, you can expect to be sued for veterinarian bills.
And if you mace or batter a dog that is not actually acting you and ends up needing medical treatment, you can expect to be sued for veterinarian bills.
TO stick to the example provided by the OP, there was no attack and to strike on dog is to attack the whole pack. To jump right to physical assault is foolish without considering the ramifications. Simply because you have the right to do something doesn't mean that it would be prudent to enforce it at that moment.
A volatile situation like that would have to be witnessed to determine whether spray should be used or not. I am not saying I'd spray those dogs.
As for inciting an attack by spraying them, I beg to differ. Those dogs know who the 'alpha' is and they follow its lead. When the alpha attacks, the others will gain the confidence to follow that lead. OTOH, if you can determine which is the 'alpha' and you take that one out, the others will likely be dissuaded from attacking. Dogs are pack animals as in followers. Bears are not. They do not follow anyone's lead and have built-in confidence.
Even lions have this figured out, kill the alpha hyena first.
I am a dog owner and lover just like you, but I wouldn't hesitate to spray an aggressive acting dog if it got too close.
Quoting the OP...
There is no way in this situation that the OP would not have been justified in the use of pepper spray on the dogs. One unknown dog running at you barking would 99 time out of 100 be justified.A group of medium-sized dogs came running towards me off of someone's property. The dogs came into the public roadway, circled around me, barking.